Not crazy New York. Church does not leap immediately to mind when you think of New York.

Photographer Lanie McNulty might change that. Her long-term investigation, "Lifted Up in New York," has caught all kinds of 21st-century New Yorkers in the act of worship.

The city is holier than we know.

"Lifted Up" opened this month in the All Things Project Gallery, a Manhattan storefront that looks like a neighborhood exhibition/performance space, but is actually a Congregational church. It presents admission-free concerts and visual art during non-church time.

At the College of Staten Island in 2005, an abrupt moment of prayer.

Historically, religious practice has engaged photographers. The unparalleled assortment of responses in America has been particularly attractive.

INSIDER'S VIEW
Ms. McNulty, who studied at the International Center of Photography, figures that she differs from most church-going photographers. They were dispassionate observers. She's a pro-faith insider.

As a believer, "I think I see things differently," she said last week. And congregations see her differently, she's learned.

She takes pains to be unobtrusive. She uses available light, not flash, a costly decision. A great shot can become invisible without sufficient light. In most places, the pastor introduces her at the start of the service.

"Lifted Up in New York" (30 black-and-white gelatin silver prints) travels the city, from an Upper East Side congregation to a prayer circle in a precinct stationhouse in the Bronx to the Christ Tabernacle in Queens, where a Friday night hip-hop music and dance service is available only to members under 25.

The faithful in this congregation look like any happy young people. Out of a religious context, it's easy to see them as kids at a concert. On National Prayer Day (May 7, 2005), she reported to the College of Staten Island, where hundreds had assembled.

Photographer Lanie McNulty

She's sharp-eyed. Half the challenge is being ready to shoot the perfect moment. In "The Usher," she spotted a man with a job to do -- his jacket says "usher" -- overcome with prayerfulness.

He's fallen to his knees, head bent, hands clasped, eyes closed.

Many of the photographs depict the faithful in a state of obvious joy or prayerful detachment. At the Greater Allen AME Cathedral in Queens, where dancing is part of the service, she shot "Seraphim," white-robed congregants dancing in an angled, soft-focus composition.

Ms. McNulty, 45, an Upper West Side mother of three, was, by her own account, "a seeker" for years. "I am a New Yorker ... I never knew anyone who ever talked about a relationship with God."

She was curious. Her own breakthrough came when an acquaintance suggested she check out Trinity Baptist Church in Manhattan. She liked it, and still attends.

In 2007, she made a church-sponsored trip to Rwanda. She shot "From the Ashes of Rwanda," a series about recovery, while there.

"Lifted Up" remains a work in progress. She hasn't photographed Roman Catholic or Orthodox parishes yet. Last week, lots of candidates had been submitted: "People who are stopping at the gallery are giving me plenty of suggestions about where I should go next."

"Lifted Up" is at All Things Project Gallery, 269 Bleecker St., Manhattan, through the end of the month. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, from 1 to 6:30 p.m.